Elon Musk officially stepped down from his role in the Trump administration Wednesday night, ending with the fact that the president’s senior adviser and de facto senior adviser and de facto head (Doge). Despite his promise of efficiency and modernization, Musk left traces of uncertainty and reduced functionality.
Musk's timing of departure with the end of his 130-day term limit is the end of a "special government employee" but also played a role in a billionaire's efforts to show that he faced public and shareholder opposition, facing a broader shift from Washington. Musk recently refocused his efforts on tech companies in an interview, saying he spent too much time focusing on politics and planning to reduce future political spending.
As Musk advanced, he delegated a series of semi-implemented plans and brave institutions to key positions throughout the federal government. His departure has caused a greyer plight on the chaos of the Governor’s impact on the government and raised about how much power the vague task force would have without him and who might rebuild its plans and services to be destroyed.
Musk's initial propaganda of Doge was to modernize the way federal agencies operated through rooting for rampant waste and fraud, as well as overhaulsing government software. So far, Doge claims to cut about $140 billion from its budget, despite its infamous "receipt wall" as it contains mistakes to overestimate its savings. Donald Trump's new tax bill, while not part of Musk, is also expected to increase the 2.3 tons deficit to remove the threshold for any savings. Its commitment to new modern software is often limited to AI chatbots, some of which have been done under Biden Administration.
The greater impact of the Governor is the removal of government services and humanitarian assistance. The cuts in Doge target many agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization, which handles forecasts of weather and natural disasters and puts others, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, into crisis. Many smaller agencies have actually been closed, such as those that coordinate homelessness policies. Doge brings several offices to their knees, with no clear plan for whether Musk's leaving work will attempt to update or maintain their services or simply shut them down.
In an early example of the scope of cuts and the government vulnerabilities they created, Doge targets government technology groups that work with federal agencies to provide technology solutions (called 18F).
When Doge staff entered the General Services Administration of the 18F office, former employees said they seemed to fundamentally misunderstand how government operates and the challenges of creating public services.
Former 18F director Lindsay Young, now part of a legal appeal, argued that 18F, which violated the legal requirements, was in violation of the legal requirements and he feared that the cuts by Mano would have a long-term impact on government functions.
"In government, it's much easier to remove things than to build things," Young said.
The massive layoffs in the Department of Health and Human Services represent similar institutional knowledge loss, and Doge does not seem to be a replacement.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, has been following the slashes by Taoist sectors, who cited the institution’s tobacco units as an example, and was severely affected by the cuts. “Losing so much expertise, especially in healthcare, will mean more Americans will get sick or die,” he said. “It may also take years of resources to restore this experience and expertise.”
Musk's versus USAID (formerly the world's largest humanitarian aid provider, one of the most obvious examples of the chaos and harm caused by Doge cuts). The United States canceled about 83% of the U.S. Agency for International Development programs, and services around the world involve humanitarian assistance and disease prevention. PEPFAR, a groundbreaking program under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which coordinates the U.S. HIV/AIDS response, has seen its services reduce globally and employees are left confused about what they do for people who rely on their organizations. Doge's cuts to the program also threaten the effectiveness of the launch of a new anti-HIV drug that researchers call "miracle."
When Musk returns to Tesla and SpaceX, the wasted institutions he abandons are left to pieces.
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When Musk returns to his tech empire, many former employees and inexperienced young engineers will be hired to work for Doge, which will be part of the government. One of the biggest questions about Doge's future is that these employees, some of whom have almost unrestricted access to the most sensitive data from the government, will retain the same powers they enjoy under Musk.
Billionaire investors and ministerial staff such as Musk Ally Antonio Gracias have embed themselves in major agencies such as the Social Security Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration. They have been a parallel government task force, lacking transparency due to the confusion and technical issues caused by attempts to access databases and migrate data. Whether Trump and the head of the proxies can continue to move forward is still invisible.
At least two well-known Doge staff have followed Musk to the exit. Steve Davis, the billionaire’s long-time top lieutenant, left his daily business Thursday. Katie Miller, wife of Trump Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, also left the White House to work full-time for Musk, CNN said.
Since he left Washington earlier this month, some of Musk's orders have been backed off, including a highly speculated task requiring federal employees to send a list of five things they do each week. The weekly emails that were originally introduced were ignored and viewed as meaningless busyness by many because of being fired. The Pentagon officially announced on Wednesday that it would stop the practice.
But the Governor is not without a leader. According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk is a Christian nationalist and the main figure in the right-wing project 2025 Declaration Russia vorked. The president should have long had grand executive power, Woch said he hopes federal employees are “in trauma” and cut federal funding.
Musk praised Doge's work and promised that no one would continue, and as he was still dismissing senior officials this week who disagreed with federal agencies. Even if the number is reduced, Musk's allies can still access a large amount of sensitive and confidential data reportedly intended to be used to monitor immigration.
Yet, in the chaos, it seems farther than ever, and it is Musk's commitment to make the government more effective and serve the public better.
"You don't need that many people to cut things down," said the young man at 18F. "But if you actually want to build things, you need to think about it. It takes effort."